SinoDefence Forum

coolstorm

just some amusement for people:

i am curious.
if hong kong had a military of its own, why would it be like?

would it be like the one of singapore's or a little stronger?

hong kong has gdp larger than singapore as a whole as well as on a per capita basis. if it is to devote 5 percent of its gdp to the military like singapore, would it have a slightly stronger military?

jchu1988

HK did have a reserve army when it was under the British control.

However, since 1997 when the Chinese army "moved in" to hk, i am not sure wherther the reserve was disbanded. The Army garrisoned in hk is not paid by the Hk government but the Chinese government.

jwangyue

In the hyperthetical situation, I would imagine it would be more like the military of Singapore. Limited Ground, Naval, and Air asset suitable for laterial warfare.

jchu1988

if hk was ever attacked conventionally by another country, (only as an example admins and mods, dont erase my reply again) eg taiwan, the Chinese military will retaliate instead of the reserve force as the reserve force hasnt exactly got much to fight with.

adeptitus

If Hong Kong was willing to spend 5% of its GDP on a military, itd have similiar budget to Taiwan/ROC's military. So whatever Taiwan could afford, HK can afford it too (but with fewer manpower avail).

Singapore spends 5% of its GDP on military because of a silly piss fight vs Malaysia. Maybe I shouldn't say that too loudly since I'm going there this week, LoL. If you look at other countries in the region, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Aus, etc., they only spend about 2-3% of GDP on military.

HK has the advantage of being bigger than SG, so it prolly has enough space to build military facilities to keep its military units at home. Singapore is smaller and has to send part of its air force overseas for training.

Nethappy

Why would Hong Kong want a Military in the frist place. I mean i can see why it had a reserve army when it was under the British control cos UK is in the other side of the world.

But since the reunited with China has a small garrisoned like the UK did in Hong Kong but they not going to do much. But it really stupid for any country ever threaten or attack Hong Kong, cos frist of all there are going to need to find a good reason, then think about how to deal with the few hundred thousand troops sitting rite next door.

Hong Kong dun need a military it has all the protection it need.

akinkhoo

the reason singapore is sending planes overseas is not as much because of land but airspace, there is not enough room for every squadron to clock their flying hours and train their various operation (how are we gonna train a strike mission without places of land target, bomb our neighbours? err..)

also, we can learn much from other countries airforce while basing there. military exchanges cut our learning time on the latest technology and military hardware. i am in RSAF now and i am proud to be in the best airforce in ASEAN.

yes it is weird that HALF our landmass is covered by military bases, but hey, it is fun watching apaches flyby my windows while i am having my dinner. they sure are a beauty to watch, the engine sound they make are different from other heli, they are much deeper in pitch and not noisy.

yup

DPRKUnderground

That sounds bad. Hong Kong should be able to protect itself! But then again, with no $$$ going to military stuff, more is being spent on health and education!

Nethappy

Hong Kong had never been able to protect itself it always been protect by a bigger countries, it use to be British now it PRC. The HK reserve army was a laughting joke. I mean they fought very bravely during WW2 and was honorable. But seen then till the time it was disbanded, they where a joke and I dun think even many Hong Kong people know about them.

Anyway, Hong Kong do need to spent more money on health and education.

Hong Kong is just a city and is a Part of China, we have out big bother to protect us. I mean after all we where only rented to British for 200 years, we are Chinese after all.... hehe

KYli

True, I don't know there is HK reserve army until some TV show. HK don't need to spend more on healthcare, they already have one of the best healthcare systen in Asia. HK government should try to make the Healthcare more efficent. The education is more a problem, since the British colony years the HK education is bad. Today, they still don't have a good plan to solve the problem.
We are one big happy family .

akinkhoo

i find the discussion quite interesting, i has a query and would like your deepest opinion on it.

how much support would there be (refering to hk public) to estab hk own army division? would it be a wise idea to invest hk citizens in the army? given the level of education, living cost of a cosmopolitan city, the limited population base that could be doing something more productive; could it be affordable to the citystate? or would hk hire mainlanders to solider their army?

are HK ok with PLA garrison, and what opinions does HK has of the garrison? i think HK still has a coastal protection force, is this correct?

thx.

KYli

I don't think there are great interest in HK to establish its' own army division, but HK probably could afford to have some military force. HK would also probably accept to hire mainlanders for soliders.

Yes, HK people are OK with PLA garrison, since the PLA keep a low profile and are doing their best to not cause any trouble and inconvenient.

HK do have a coast guard and they have quick many vessels.

Nethappy

KYli I agree fully agree with you.

We have the capability to establish our own defence force. But you wouldn't find many Hong Kong People supporting this. We are happy that we get our protection from what we call our motherland and we are sure they do everything they can to keep us save. As Kyli already make aware the PLA garrison keep a low profile in Hong Kong and are doing their best not to cause any trouble and inconvenient.

Last time I check, the PLA garrison are not allow to mount any operation in Hong Kong unless they received an official request for help, with the exception of war time.

Hong Kong does not have a formal coast guard service. The Hong Kong Police Force Marine Region patrolling our waters and the Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre utilizing asset from the Hong Kong Police Force Marine Region, Marine Department and Government Flying Service for Maritime SAR mission. But it very true that The Police Marine Region has a very large amount of ship.

aquauant

I happen to know a few officers in now disbanded HK reserve. Some became police officers and one heli pilot.

From what I heard, they trained pretty tough. We went to UK and malaysia jungle for training with gurhkas, the toughest soldiers in the world. The entry rate I was told was about 10%. They had to run 3 miles hilly in less than 23 min with full combat gears.

Of course, they also complained about being ill-equipped.

Nethappy

Anyway I think there is 2 problem with the old HK reserve, ill-equipped and underfund.

It not that Hong Kong dun have the money, but I think it more it dun need to waste that money. Unlike like the singapore it doesn't have a big bother to looking up too. They have to protect themself. We use to have UK we have PRC now, it may already become a part of our culture now, I dun think you find many people here who tell u they wanna join a army and I dun think U find many who want a HK army in the frist place.

Maybe, but I dun think there is a toughest soldiers in world, in reality there is no such thing. What u mean toughest, strength, stamia, or what.
Every soilder could possible agrue their soilder are the toughest or strongest in the world.